Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund

What Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund does

Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund (CTPF) is a statutory defined benefit pension fund established in 1895 to provide retirement benefits to Chicago Public Schools teachers and charter school teachers. Operating under Illinois state law, CTPF manages $13.8 billion in assets and serves active, retired, new, and inactive members, plus survivor beneficiaries. Membership is mandatory for CPS teachers, who do not contribute to Social Security during employment; instead, employer contributions are withheld from each pay period and, together with investment returns, fund lifetime pension obligations. The fund is governed by an elected Board of Trustees and employs 51-100 staff at its Chicago headquarters.

CTPF's core product is the Defined Benefit Plan, offering guaranteed lifetime pension income with annual increases (3% compounded for Tier 1), survivor and death benefits, reciprocal service credit coordination across 13 Illinois public retirement systems, and health insurance premium subsidies for retirees. The technology layer is a defined benefit pension administration system with a member self-service portal (myCTPF) enabling online access to benefit statements, pension estimates, 1099-R forms, and personal information. The portal supports social login SSO via Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and member education is delivered through Zoom-based webinars and in-person workshops conducted in partnership with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) Pension/Insurance Committee.

As a public pension fund, CTPF does not operate on a commercial revenue model; there are no fees charged to members, and the fund is sustained through mandatory CPS employer contributions and investment returns on the $13.8 billion portfolio. Distribution is direct-to-member via in-person services (by appointment), phone, online portal, email newsletters (E-News, E-Lerts), printed Pension News (three times per year), and social media (Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn). In April 2026, CTPF executed a high-profile governance decision, voting 9-1 to withdraw all assets from Verus Investments and restart its investment consultant RFP following Cerity Partners' acquisition of Verus and concerns about Cerity's private equity ownership structure (Genstar Capital 30%, Warburg Pincus 15%, Lightyear Capital 5%).

Name

Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund

Legal name

Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago

Website

https://ctpf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1895

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund is a statutory defined benefit pension fund serving Chicago Public Schools teachers, managing $13.8 billion in assets through lifetime pension administration, survivor benefits, and retiree health insurance under Illinois state law.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Pension Fund Administration

NAICS

Pension Funds (525110), Insurance and Employee Benefit Funds (5251), Health and Welfare Funds (525120)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate & Public Pension Funds (DB/DC Sponsors) (FSAAAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pensions & Retirement Benefits Administration (BPAIAKAA), Employee Benefit & Retirement Plan Trust Services (FSAAANAC), Pension Master Trusts, Superannuation & Provident Funds (FSAAAGAB)

Keywords

• Defined benefit pension
• Pension administration
• Retirement benefits
• Public pension fund
• Teacher retirement plan

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Pension Contributions: CTPF operates as a defined benefit pension fund where employer contributions are withheld from each pay period of Chicago Public Schools teachers. These contributions, along with investment returns, fund the pension obligations. Members do not contribute to Social Security during employment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CTPF administers a defined benefit pension plan that provides Chicago Public Schools teachers with guaranteed lifetime retirement income, funded through employer contributions and investment returns. Supporting services include a member self-service portal (myCTPF), a monthly pension calculator, survivor and death benefits, reciprocal service credit coordination with other Illinois public retirement systems, retiree health insurance, and educational workshops.

Product overview

Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund (CTPF) operates as a single unified defined benefit pension system rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core product is the Defined Benefit Plan, which provides guaranteed lifetime retirement income. This core is supported by the myCTPF Member Self-Service Portal for member self-management, the Monthly Pension Calculator for retirement planning, Educational Workshops for member education, Survivor & Death Benefits for family protection, Reciprocal Systems for service credit portability across Illinois public retirement systems, and Health Insurance services for retirees including Medicare support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Defined Benefit Plan

Quantifiable outcome

• Pension multiplier of 2.2% for service earned on July 1, 1998 or after
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Verus InvestmentsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Verus Investments was CTPF's selected investment consultant, but the fund voted 9-1 to withdraw $13.8 billion in assets from Verus and restart its RFP process after Cerity Partners (backed by private equity firms) acquired Verus on April 1, 2026. Concerns about PE ownership structure led to the reversal.
• Cerity PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Cerity Partners acquired Verus Investments on April 1, 2026, expanding its assets under advisement by $1.2 trillion. CTPF rejected this relationship due to concerns about Cerity's private equity ownership (Genstar Capital 30%, Warburg Pincus 15%, Lightyear Capital 5%, employees 50%+).
• Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) Pension/Insurance CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTPF partners with the CTU Pension/Insurance Committee to offer educational workshops for active members. These sessions provide general information about pension benefits and related topics to help teachers understand and plan for retirement.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Florida Retirement System (FRS): Florida's statewide public employee retirement system covering teachers and other public employees — comparable in scale and benefit administration scope, though broader in occupational coverage.
• Ohio State Teachers Retirement System (STRS Ohio): Ohio's statewide teacher pension system — same occupational mandate (public school teachers) and defined benefit structure, providing a useful mid-size benchmark for institutional pension operations.
• Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS): Pennsylvania state pension fund for public school employees — directly comparable defined benefit structure and member demographics, useful as a benchmark for fund governance and benefit administration practices.
• California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS): Largest U.S. teacher pension fund (~$300B AUM) — directly comparable occupational mandate and defined benefit structure, but operates at vastly larger scale across California, useful as a benchmark for institutional maturity and investment sophistication.
• Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS of Texas): Large U.S. teacher pension fund serving Texas public educators — same defined benefit mandate for public school teachers with comparable plan design and member service challenges at scale.
• New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS): Major U.S. teacher pension fund for New York public school teachers — same occupational class, comparable defined benefit structure, and similar institutional governance model, useful as a comparable for fund operations and member service strategy.

Direct peers

• State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS): Illinois public pension system for higher education employees operating under the same state legal framework and reciprocal system — directly comparable structure, regulatory regime, and member service architecture.
• Illinois Teachers' Retirement System (TRS): State-wide public pension fund for Illinois teachers outside Chicago — directly comparable in occupational class, regulatory environment (Illinois state law), and defined benefit structure, serving the same pool of educators CTPF does not.
• Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (MEABF): Chicago's sister pension fund covering city municipal employees — same city, same employer (City of Chicago), comparable defined benefit structure, regulatory environment, and AUM scale, providing a natural local benchmark.

Regional players

• Cook County Pension Fund: Local Illinois pension fund serving Cook County employees — same state regulatory environment and metropolitan Chicago service area as CTPF, comparable in scale and structure though covering different employee classes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ctpf_tweets
• Facebookfacebook.com/chicagoteacherspension
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chicago-teachers%27-pension-fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund